Friday, October 31, 2008

When I was still a kid, I am so used to dreaming a lot. I would wake up in the middle of the night or in bleak dawn screaming because of my nightmares. I would even imagine those clothes outside hanging on the line to be ghosts that is why I would cover my whole body with a blanket during bedtime, including my face. I usually watched horror movies and I like the thought of being scared and that was the reason maybe why I kept on having nightmares. Okay, this is supposed to be the horror train story so I'll kick this off.

When I was ten years young, my friends invited me to go to a carnival. The entrance fee was very cheap so I did not asked my mom for some cash. I just had to notify her and asked for permission. She allowed me to go with my friends and gently advised to go safely and just be home on the right time. I went there with so much excitement. The city lights were glowing in different hues and there was a huge crowd close to becoming a mob already. In the streets were different people selling different goods, from toys to street food. I did not bother to buy or anything of that sort since I was there to go to the carnival. So we came to the place. It was jam-packed. The queue to the entrance was way too long. I was even worried not to be allowed to enter the place because of my young age but, my friends who were a lot older than me were good enough to act as my guardians (evil grin). Anyway, there was this horror train which caught my attention, but, my friends wanted to try the ferris wheel. I remembered my father telling me before I went to the carnival not to try any ride with a ferris wheel as it might be dangerous, so I was really hesitant. Due to my young age maybe, I joined my friends with the ride. We hurriedly got our tickets. We went there arranged ourselves on the seats available and ta-da, we were enjoying the ride. It was fun everytime it went from the top going down. Trust me you would love to really scream your loudest scream. I did scream for that was my first time to ride a ferris wheel. It was scary yet exciting and fun. After the ride, the horror train was still there calling me, inviting me to go and try it. I was having that great urge and so I had the hardest time convincing my friends that we try it. I was telling them that it's fun and exciting and telling them to look at the people and ask those people coming out of this huge booth where the horror train was. They were convinced after some grueling task of getting their approval - persistence really works. So we had our chance to go and try the horror train. When we got to the train, we were actually panicky as to where to sit and be buckled up. Everyone was a little scared even if the train hasn't started to go that huge dark cave. Even if I wanted to sit in between or at the middle, I was displaced and was positioned at the edge. The train started with this really really slow ride. Upon entering the cave, the mini lights inside the cave went to flicker strangely. There were screams and really scary whispers. There were people in sickening costumes you see in horror films wearing scary monstrous masks. I meet Freddie and Jason for real. There were black and white ladies. There was this beheaded priest. My heart was really pumping so hard and my arms were sweating. My friends were already screaming and all I could do was forced myself to close my eyes. I was already shaking and wanted to get out. I also wanted to pee. My friends were getting unruly and they were pushing me around or maybe everywhere, so, I opened my eyes. I was shocked and couldn't react much. There was this really ugly being from hell. He looked real. I was trying to push him away but he kept on coming. My friends were super scared and wanted to jump off the slowly moving train. Because I was so scared, I got a little freaked out and slapped the monster and kicked him. I even took his seemingly bloody mask and tossed it far. At last the train was getting to a close on the outside world, at the far end of the cave and I was still left scared. Well the monster which felt real was not there already. When we got off the train, there was this guy in costume and approached me. He asked me where was his mask. OMG! He was the monster that gave me goosebumps and received some physical blows from me. I was still scared yet laughing at the back of my head. I thought he would strangle me for real, and I would be running and screaming for my life. Well good enough he didn't. I just told him that I did not have it and that I threw it inside the cave. Good thing he believed me.

I just thought that I would love to have another ride of that horror train.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

I was thinking of making a new blogspot niche. I just thought that separating or making a new site where I can publish poems or other literary pieces will be a good thing for me so as not to make a mess of this site. It would make sense to make a site just for my personal stuff and a site exclusively for my poems and other's poems. In this way things will be clearer. I was battling it out for a couple of weeks already and now I have decided to make this a reality. Thanks to Miss Angie Atkinson for making me realize this. I was actually checking on my old posts and this one: http://mycranialjuice.blogspot.com/2008/08/unspoken.html was something for me. I am used to writing poems so it's better to have a site dedicated for this purpose. Again this site will contain my poems and the poems of other's I have read which I think worthy to be shared.

Yesterday, an officemate approached me and told me that, she was going to the CTO or Chief Technology Officer's office. She didn't know what to do and she was totally clueless.

After a few minutes, the phone on the other side of the cubicle rang. A teammate answered it and called my attention because the phone was for me. I answered the phone and said that it was I on the other line and she replied that I had to go to the chief's office as well.

On my way, I passed my officemate who was called earlier. Her face seemed confused or I guess a little worried and there was no time to ask her of what happened. I just walked briskly and went directly to the chief's office.

There, the HR Manager and the company president were present. The chief was sitting comfortably in his chair and began to introduce me with the company president. After the introduction, the president left the office and our HR manager asked me to sit on the chair located at the opposite side of where she was. I just gestured a soft thank you and then took the seat. She then told me, that because of my outstanding performance based on the recommendation made by our project manager, I was given a pay raise. I was shocked. I was literally tongue-tied. After the HR manager explained, she gave me a formal letter stipulating what she had just discussed. She then asked me as to how do I feel. I guess she was expecting me to jump with joy maybe or cry? (Hehehe). Anyway, I was just shocked. My first evaluation was not really excellent as I got only an average rating but then this past few months, according to my manager, I was doing great and I should keep it up. Actually after the "shocking moment", there was a gigantic flood of thoughts running around my head. I can't exactly tell you right now what are those thoughts about, but in the next few days, I will. Anyway, together with the flooding of thoughts was my nerves were a little shaking and my heart was beating fast. I know I was having some second thoughts on a lot of things. Again, my face was very much attentive as to what the CTO was talking, like he was explaining the new roles and responsibilities to me which he ended up by saying that my manager will elaborate on the details. While doing that, I was actually lost in my own thoughts. I usually have this episodes that I get absorbed to what I am thinking but still listening to the other person. I was actually surprised and shocked of what happened and was screaming at the back of my head, that I wanted to go out of the CTO's office already because I was gonna puke. I mean, I was feeling like I was going to vomit and there were no butterflies or insects in my stomach. They were asking me if what was I thinking about them calling me up? Was it that, I have done something wrong or breached any company policies or displeased the client. But the truth is, it's a lot worse. But then again, I cannot tell you guys what it is and in due time I will. (Is it getting really obvious already?) After the CTO and our HR manager explained everything, at last I was allowed to leave the premise. 10% salary increase is good but I still am having issues with it.

I proceeded to my workstation and pleaded my friends that I needed a break. They too agreed that they needed a break. So, we went to Greenwich and an officemate treated us for a free snacks. I was not able to enjoy the pizza and spaghetti because the thoughts were still swirling in my head. I just decided that things would be over and it will be better.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

For those of you who are so fan of the Guns, they are releasing a new album, "Chinese Democracy". Good publicity? Hmmm. I don't know but I don't like the title. It's very obvious that the concept directors or consultants do not have anything to make of a title for the album so they just came up with that. We all know that China is a communist country so what are they trying to say? I haven't read the scripts how or why they came up with that title but it appears to me differently. The Chinese people can call or do for any Democratic movement and the world can support it. The album may preach the same thing but the real cause here is they want to make a buzz in order to sell. I don't know how else, will they make another title for the album. Haven't heard of the Guns waging for Democracy or if they want to promote Democracy, and just now. To the band who has released their last album way back the 1991 good luck. To the fans, I apologize for being critical on this.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Anyway, I was able to track all of the LOTR movies like watched them over, and over and over. I bought the trilogy cd and enjoyed it during Halloween, Christmas and New Year, all year round. I think the story is great but did not have cash to buy the novels as there were no paper back issues or at least I haven't seen one. The glossy hardbound issues are really expensive for me. Hope someone can give me an LOTR book, at least one book, so I can kick-off my collection and not just the movies.

In the LOTR movie, one great animation is of Smiggle. I find the character scary yet adorable. The friendship of Frodo to that of Sam. Arwen and Aragorn's love - so great. The great battles and the likes were truly amazing. The sage knowledge of Gandalf. The scary looking creatures of the Orc race. And the happy race of the Hobbits. Thanks to master Tolkien for this great cranial juicers.

Why I write about the Hobbits? Hmmm... It's holloweird! All Soul's and Saint's day is coming and I am planning to watch the trilogy again. I am also planning to watch my matrix movie collections and whole lot more.

And oh, smiggle would make a good Halloween costume. "Precious, precious, precious ...."

Monday, October 27, 2008

Two opposites; well, I chanced to read the latest news. As I have arrived, someone on the other side of the globe died. It's horrific - a shooting at the University of Arkansas. There were two deaths. What could be the reason behind this shooting? US of A has a serious problem in their schools - emotional or psychological in nature.

Anyway, I just got back from Cebu. Cebu is still Cebu, with lots of pluses like more malls or shopping stores, more people, and ahem ... more dirt? It's slowly becoming like Manila which is a little polluted, and I am hoping not. Hope Governor Garcia and the mayors of Cebu will take good care of our progress, that it will be a balanced progress.

Here are the pics I want to share. Hope you will like them.

This was at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport 3 or NAIA 3. The controvesial airport because of the allegations of corruption when it was constructed.

Since I was all alone in the airport waiting for my flight, I managed to take some pictures. Since my laptop was still fully charged and I have still an hour to wait for my departure, I played Starcraft. Hehehehe.

Click, then click and finally click....

This is kind of nonsense but let it be. Wahahaha. I have been travelling since ages but then I did not have a digital camera. I mean this is my first digi-cam. You see, I usually have to ask some pictures from my friends, whom I'm travelling with, to have photographs which were posted at multiply, facebook or friendster.

This was my flight number bound to Cebu.

Click, then click and finally click....

My pose at SM City Cebu North Wing lobby.

This side of the mall is comparable to some A-shops at Greenbelt. They have expensive brands of clothing and apparel lines opened in here.

Too bad, my money is not for those shops.

Anyway this will give a new meaning to window shopping.

Click, then click and finally click....

Me and my best friend MJ.

Posing outside of BigBy's resto. (Have I spelt the resto name correctly? Wahahahaha!)

We've got nothing to do and we can't have our dinner there so we just took a photo of us.

Click, then click and finally click....

We went to an art exhibit entitled, "Mugnang Halad" which when translated to English would become, "Creative Offering".

The paintings were great and I was messing around. I do love paintings specially the abstract style. This painting was my personal favorite.

Click, then click and finally click....

Dinner with my closest friends at Joven's. These people are my college mates in the good old days at the Cebu Institute of Technology.

Some of these friends became my officemates as well when I started to step into the world of professionals.

I am allergic to shrimp but I still ate a lot.

Click, then click and finally click....

The second Mactan bridge, my first ever photograph of this very important structure in Cebu.

This bridge connects Lapu-lapu City to the mainland Cebu.

Click, then click and finally click....

An aerial view of the second Mactan Bridge.

I took this one from the plane bound for Manila which was 4 hours ago if I am not mistaken.

I still have lots of pictures and as much as I wanted to share them, I just can't. I would prefer to have them treasured and be kept private. Hope you guys understand. :)

Oh I forgot to mention that my brother and my father fetched me at the airport and all I could do when I got out of the airport where they waited was hugged them. I was so happy to see them. Extremely happy!

Anyway, peace and prayers to those who have left this faceless earth and to the families of the victims at UCA.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Jim Norton is releasing a new book entitled, "I Hate Your Guts". According to sources, it will be released this first week of November. This book is actually about his dislikes of political and Hollywood figures.

I think with this book we can get some insights about who he is disliking but the question lies on whether it is on the premise of truth. I don't know either, that is why I am having my picks as well. I am not saying that I won't be buying his book but if someone gives a copy then I would browse through it. He is a comedian so it might be good for those idle times. But then again, most of my time is occupied. Anyway I have six books purchased a week ago. The most expensive one is from Paulo Coehlo - "The Devil and Miss Prym". I have not read it yet and did not took it out from its plastic cover as I am still reading, "The Zahir", which I am loving, still from P. Coehlo. The other five books are as follows:

5.1) Black Earth City - When Russia Ran Wild (And so did we) by: Charlotte Hobson - It is about a young woman's heady encounter with the new Russia, as she and the country embrace the passions and risks of freedom.

5.2) Island of Blood by: Anita Pratap - About front line reports from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and other South Asian Flashpoints.

5.3) Speaking Stones by: Stephen Leigh - About two different human settlement in a faraway planet called Mictlan where there is struggle and often disturbing complications in adapting to their surrounding.

5.5) A Stone Boat by: Andrew Solomon - About the death of a beloved mother and its aftermath.

I actually got these books from a book-sale at Glorieta. I am usually on a look out, as to where book sales are and get worthy to read books. Hoping that these picks are great. Right now they are because I purchased them for only 189 pesos or around 4 US dollars - all of the five bulleted books.

My boss gave me new tasks and tons of them. He was telling me about the deadline and it's really deadly. Come on, giving me new tasks with limited time to finish it.

What happened to me after that was I can't move. The thought of being able to finish it on time was dreadful. I cannot even make sense of the world already - asking how was he able to set the schedule. Was he even thinking or was he being rational at coming up that schedule? Or, was he just guessing? The first thing I did was tell my friends that I want to collapse already because of the work load. I even forgot to breathe for a split second after I read the email, and when he talked to me about it.

Well I sort of planned what to do first. The first thing that came up in my mind was super multi task by doing plenty of things at the same time. I identified which ones were easy to do and did it right away. I was still having issues because most of the huge tasks are difficult and because I need to check on the specifications which are mostly business rules. By the way my work is in software engineering and my project is related to an industry-grade travel software or platform. I am assigned in a module where you add insurance for your air travels. Well my PC for one thing is a bit cumbersome - hope he won't be acting as if he has his own body and mind. To go on, I did my first two hours sitting in my workstation, convincing myself that I can really finish it.

When I went out for lunch, my boss was there at the lobby and was asking me about the new tasks. I told him that I have a vacation leave so maybe it would be very hard for me to finish in his schedule. Then he remembered that I have a scheduled leave for two days. What the f**k, he really did not check his schedules. I think this is one of the issues that needs to be addressed - right and sensible schedules.

Anyway I am trying my best to beat the odds and making it to the deadliest deadline but, for the next couple of days, I will be going back to Cebu and I don't want my work to spoil the fun so I am leaving it in time-space continuum stoppage.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

In my most recent blog, I have announced I am going home to Cebu. I don't want to announce the date but I think I will be out blogging for three to four days. Since I am so excited about it, I was thinking of what song or drama that will describe this. I was checking out youtube again, as usual as ever. And there, I found Faith Hill's song, "There you'll be". I think the song does not describe of someone leaving and never coming back. I find it more about on treasuring a memory. There you are!

Treasuring memories was the thing being amplified.

I have with me lots of memories - sad and joys. I wish I can only take the happy thoughts or memories but sad things happen. I feel that I need to also be reminded of them for me to be adamant, resilient, and passionate about pursuing what makes me happy.

It's obvious, pretty obvious that I am uber excited. I am assured that more of these memories will be in my bag when I get back to Cebu.

It's quite amazing how I survived from being too far from home. This has been the longest time that I haven't seen them. I went here in Makati for work - to support my family. It's a little lonely but I managed to cope with it. I pay the bills and pay my brother's tuition for that sense, in exchange of me being too far away from them. I have been very thankful that the Great Divine, our God, has never left when times get rough. God made sure I am surrounded with people I call friends, whom mutually have had trust and care.

Well right now, I am uber excited to see them. I will be going home to Cebu, after almost a year. I will be going home because it's my brother and my father's birthday. I feel that I need to celebrate it with them. I am so happy. And oh, I will be seeing my two pet dogs as well. I will be seeing my college mates and friends as well in Cebu. I really don't have enough itineraries when I get there but I am sure that it's going to be great.

Bye for now because I need to get my laundry. I need clothes to wear you see?

Monday, October 20, 2008

Just before I decided with finality that she is gone, my wishful thinking was granted by whoever that gave her a chance to be once again heard. As I was accidentally listening to Nora Jones as mentioned from my previous post, I did mention that I miss Alicia Keys not literally her as a being but her singing and her music. I think she is one of those beautiful artists - gifted and humble. When I was like checking online, my goodness, she is there. She is just touring Europe and her latest stop was in Warsaw, Poland. I don't have a copy of her latest album, "As I am", but I 'm saving for that and one of these days I can grab a copy for myself. I thought she was dormant already but my mistake, she is very active.

When I further scoured the treacherous web, I found her official site and got some info there. One of which is that, she is having a movie with Queen Latifah - "The Secret Life of Bees". I wonder if she makes it big here? Well she and the queen's movie is rated A+, and maybe it's a nice try. But I'd prefer to see her in music scenes and not in movies but I would still support her though. I mean if she has the talent in becoming an actor then I'd give her my support. I must admit I am a fan!

I think I will be making more blogs about those men and women in music, literature, art and all artistic individuals who are inspiring and worth to be shared to the world. I am thinking of featuring next about Paulo Coehlo or maybe Josh Groban.

I was actually thinking of doing link exchanges via blog roll or blog list to all my favorite blogs and readers alike. I visit sites and comment on them. I can relate to many topics and genre. But the thing is, I would like it to be a two way process.

If you would like to do "link exchanges" with me, then post a comment here but I would still filter them with the following criteria:

1.) Original - copy cats? Get lost!2.) Spontaneous - free flowing.3.) Inspiring - something thats speaks for sage truths, uplifts the spirit, enlightens the mid.4.) Creative - touches human fancy wherein you will be left in awe.5.) Friendly - promotes friendship and harmony.6.) Entertaining - fun to read or even to just browse.7.) Most of all, it (your blog) should come from the heart.

These criteria would be very difficult and I know that. But, if I like a blog site, I will actually read them like the old posts and stuff, and so I know if they fit to my criteria. Fair enough?

Saturday, October 18, 2008

I woke up early. I mean 7A.M. is not my normal waking up time. I usually get up around 9AM. Just another ritual that I do is listen to music. I have a playlist that I randomly choose among the lists I have and I did not bother to check the specific songs that are in there. It began to play ABBA, then Josh Groban then this song. If I am not mistaken, the first time this song was played was in the year 2004. This song is Sunrise by Ms. Nora Jones. I wonder where she is right now. I have lost track of her to be honest with you but I love her including Alicia Keys - darn where are they! I find "Sunrise" really inspiring.

By the way here is the lyrics of the song:

"Sunrise"

Sunrise, sunriseLooks like mornin' in your eyesBut the clocks held 9:15 for hoursSunrise, sunriseCouldn't tempt us if it tried'Cause the afternoon's already come and gone

And I said hoo...To you

Surprise, surpriseCouldn't find it in your eyesBut I'm sure it's written all over my faceSurprise, surpriseNever something I could hideWhen I see we made it through another day

And I said hoo...To you

Now good nightThrow its cover downOn me againOoh and if I'm rightIt's the only wayTo bring me back

Hoo...To youHoo...

And thanks to youtube.com, here is the clip which I would like to share to you as well:

I was trying to search the web for a good recipe and I bumped into the foodnetwork.com. It's a really neat site which talks about cooking and stuff. They actually have qualified chefs sharing decent recipes. I am no veteran cook but I can say if it's really presentable and if it's tasty.

Well, I was planning to look for something that has beef on a main dish. And guess what? I got into "chocolate macchiato", a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis. The chocolate keyword has got to be blamed on this. Eversince, I was still a kid and up until now, I really love something or anything that has something to do with chocolates. The recipe is really easy to follow according to the article but I don't even recognize some of the ingredients and don't know where to find them. I think I will just stick on the chocolate bars and stuff from the supermarket.

I was actually browsing over friendster.com yesterday and visited lots of profiles. When I came back, there were messages popping for approval already, so all I did was approved of all the messages. They did not mean any harm so that was it. One of the message was from a college mate of mine. I did not really have any fun memory what-so-ever with her. All I can remember was we were in the same class and same IT project. We were doing a PCB etching which was assigned by Mr. M.M. Pit. What happened was instead of leaving the PCB on a chemical solution which I already forgot, she took it out and the result was not that good. Well she took her role and the least I could do was appreciate that but then I was a freak then. I got angry with her for not following the instruction maybe on how to do it, just my guess though. Everything went severe when her friend confronted me and made a mess as well. That was a cold war. I was just surprised that after a semester we saw each other and we did not even said sorry or I think I did not say sorry and became friends again. Though I felt guilty for not saying sorry when I blamed her for what happened but I went on and decided to forget everything. Anway she gave a message saying how I am or something to that sort and asked me if I still remembered her. Well I replied and told her ofcourse I do remembered her. The one thing I learned is, "one can always forgive even one hasn't said a sorry". That's I guess made the difference.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

I am sick! Too bad I am not in the office right now and that's the reason why I am blogging. I have colds and headache. I decided to be absent so I won't infect my office mates and be the cause of people's misery though I love to infect someone with this colds but that's just a crazy idea.

It all started yesterday when I kept on sneezing and my eyes were a little watery. Anyway I took an over-the-counter medicine from Olga, to make me feel better and after some hours I became fine. But, I felt a little sleepy even if it was non-drowsy. I asked at our front desk if they have a tablet for colds so I can take it for the next four hours. I took another dosage and it went fine but my throat became irritated. So there, if I won't get better I will be absent. And so today, I'm here in our place just listening some songs and getting a good rest.

By the way, I checked on-line about the medicine I took and it has Phenylpropanolamine and when I read through about it, it says to have caution if you've got the following: high blood pressure, toxic goiter, benign prostatic hypertrophy, heart rate irregularity, gloucoma, read more...I think this is crazy. What? I took it already and I know that I have high blood pressure. But no need to worry because my blood pressure is already normal. The thing is, it it supposedly over-the-counter. When I did further reading, it also warned of taking in paracetamol because it might damage the liver. For these information I've read, we should go organic, period!

Anyway, the best cure for this is to take lots of fruit juices so I went to the supermarket which is just close to our condo. I bought honey dew again, grapes and pasteurized orange juice. I hope I'd get better. I'm planning to have a siesta later so I can get a good rest. Oh, I bought also some vegetables so I can cook this evening a decent soup.

In truth I don't like to be absent from work because my tasks will just be piled up, since I finished ahead of my schedule, a three-day task which I finished in a day, so it's a guilt free pass for me.

Monday, October 13, 2008

There are so many reasons that we have to be happy about and sometimes we fail to recognize them just because we are blinded by unimportant or unnecessary things and even urgent things. I am very much thankful for every morning that God gives me. It only means that a new day, is a new beginning and another chance to improve. There were doubts if what I have right now is something that is already me, but I realized that all along I am already I am without them. I just knew, when trials struck or certain situations arose - be it harsh, stupid, fine, special etc. If one fails to count the blessings even how simple it is then one is missing a lot. I too have once been fooled by huge aspirations and for that I forget to live what is now. It is not an issue nor a problem at all to dream big, just as long as we continue to live in the present. For whence one can achieve his goal may not be his ultimate goal at all, because what has mattered in those sojourns, were gathered thoughts of affliction and bliss and these are real mentors. And so, we should be thankful to any encounter with fools or intellectuals for they come in different walks and we can learn from them the great values in life. A different perspective is just the same to any perspective because the individual self will always be the turning point; his will. I thought that if I change what or how I see it would be different but it's not. You are just trying to immerse yourself to great lies; greater than that of the ocean's trenches because you are denying the truth to yourself and your soul. Why not recognize these truths and live with it. The good things are worth to treasure and the bad things are worth to be learned. Sometimes we need to fail for us to appreciate what is great and sometimes need to cry to put that smile once again in our faces. I never wished to build bridges and I try to learn how but I realized that building a table is as well important. You can connect and relate to people, be it shallow or has great meaning, but building a table and sharing the food of thoughts has also it's value. I have to learn a lot of things and I am so excited about them. I know I am truthful to myself and to those who mattered to me. I have learned to forgive myself because I know I am not perfect. I know I am a happy person. I just hope everyone can have happy days too and go on to their sojourns.

Friday, October 10, 2008

I was actually diagnosed of LVH or left ventricular hypertrophy the last physical examination I had. According to wikipedia, it is the thickening of the myocardium of the heart's left ventricle which is a pathological reaction to cardiovascular disease or high blood pressure. A little sad but true, that me being hypertensive must have caused it. I have a lot of stresses in life to endure plus a bad diet. The doctor who examined actually advised me to get myself a checkup with a cardiologist. He even scheduled me for a blood lipid screening. He gave me a maintenance drug as well to be taken every morning and for a lifetime I guess. I did know then what to do. All I know is that I don't want to take any medication in a form of a drug. I just thought that two tablets a day might have serious side effects when I grow older. So I searched over the net of what are the food that I needed to eat and not. I knew that I have to stop eating junk food. I knew that I need to stop if not minimize my intake of red meat. I knew I had to go organic - simply back to basics. I scoured the internet and there were many results. There is this high fiber diet, banana a day or apple a day regimen. They all talked about fruits and vegetables. The one thing got my attention was the garlic cloves a day. I checked about the health benefits of garlic. I read through about it. I took my chances of take a clove of garlic before bedtime. I sort of had my hypertension from 150/100 to 130/90. I included eating carrots raw and all the salad recipe every dinner for five days. It got my blood pressure under control to 130/90. I was satisfied with the results. I decided to eat wheat bread and oats for my breakfast. It has helped me maintain everything. One thing I noticed was I smelled awful with garlic. So I stopped the garlic clove diet as a night pill. So I checked on-line about how to go vegan. I tried cavendish banana which was helpful for my potassium and vitamin C needs. Not satisfied of it, I always buy myself cantaloupes or honey dew melons at least once a week. In short I was eating seriously healthy. I also bought a China made sphymomanometer for my blood pressure monitoring. By the way, I lessen red meat like pork or chicken in my meals, so boneless milk fish was in. If ever I eat tuna in can, I put in fresh tomatoes on it. I then added lettuce to my healthy diet. What I have noticed is that, it has some calming effects on me. I checked my blood pressure like three days ago and it was 120/80 which was so normal already. I was so happy about it. If I ran out of lettuce supply, I made it a point to go to the supermarket to buy myself with one. I mixed it up with grapes for a sweet taste. I also bought cheap wine, not made in China. I drink wine if I need to eat red meat instead of carbonated drinks.

Of course I found this link when I started wondering what could have improved my condition for the better and I am totally convinced that lettuce made the difference. It's because I only eat lettuce with grapes and bread for my carbohydrates needs and sometimes just lettuce. Though I crave for hot and spicy chicken meals, I made sure that everything is in moderation. Hope I can sustain this diet and become a habit of mine to pick the right food to eat.

I bumped into this site and it's quite entertaining: http://www.bryanboy.com/. I actually don't read fashion stuff but this thing is unique. It's witty and wicked. I don't know much about fashion, A-class rate fashion in that sense, but upon reading his blogs I knew names such as Balenciaga, Chanel, Lanvin, Marc Jacobs, Christian Dior. Checked those nouns on the net and they are huge in the fashion world. I haven't seen any site as this. Though some words used are kind of R-18 but who cares, the blogger is far more real than anyone acting clean. This blog has never failed me from tickling my ribs. Try to watch his video it's really funny. Try to check his dedication corner and enjoy how people around the globe made some "i love you" notes to him. One question though: Is there any fashion for the geeks and nerds courtesy of Marc Jacobs? Bwahahahaha. If he is the Picasso in fashion I think he can come up with something good or even great.

I got another doze of NBI phenomenon. Really, the place was very chaotic!

Last Monday was a holiday for us because we had it swapped with the official holiday last October 1. Olga and I went to NBI located in Carriedo. I woke up early of course so everything will be done just within the day.

We got to "the place" at around 9:30 A.M. on board the MRT. I have been to the place once like it was year 2004 so I was trying to recall where exactly NBI is when we got off the train. The one thing I could remember was, it was at the right side corner with a long alley packed with all sorts of people selling dry goods and it's noisy. Heck I am right the markers were still there. Nothing had changed I guess. By the way, NBI stands for National Bureau of Investigation. Anyway Olga and I managed to locate the entrance of the NBI building. The facade was still crowded and dilapidated, but not much because it was still livable. What caught our attention was lots of people there were selling pirated DVDs, CDs, probably electronics like phones, digital cameras and the likes were rampantly being sold. Take note there's a police station nearby the NBI building. Piracy was everywhere and it's a slap to these officials who should be maintaining fair competition. I knew then why piracy hasn't been cracked down. Well, we got to the building and it was on the third floor but before you could get there, you'll have to pass by in a maze. The place was a big maze with those markers - cartolinas where arrows being drawn as to where the right directions were. There was a queue at the entrance so we jumped on the line and paid 20 pesos. When I got the ticket, I just smiled and laughed at the back of my head as it was something like not related to NBI. Well to my surprise it was sort of a ticket for a mall which I don't have any single clue as to what it was about. Then we just proceeded to the office and noticed that the guards were checking the tickets. Then we got a form and the one person assigned there also checked the ticket. After we filled out the form we paid of course and proceeded to the next step. The place was packed with lots of people with different facial expressions - some were grouchy, others looked like they were lost and some were looking just odd. I guess it's because of the place. I failed to tell you that aside from it being crowded, it was hot and not well lighted and freakingly noisy. What can you expect of a public place? Olga and I went ahead for the checking of the forms like there was another queque where they will check if you have filled the correct information on your form. The line was a kilometer's long. It took us around 45 minutes before we get our turns. After that, we proceeded to another line where they check your police or criminal records which was termed as "hit". It was already 12 noon and were were hungry. When we got to the line we noticed that we were moving fast unlike the other three lines. It was a stupid mistake! We lined up ourselves to some never endling line because it was a circular thing. That's why it moved too fast without ever reaching the goal of checking your records. We broke from the line and went to the right queue. Of course there were those who continued to form their own separate queues joining the circular queue. Amazing the whole computer science thing just happened with people at NBI. Olga and I just laugh it out and remarked if it's okay to collapse. Olga told me she would want to collapse so she could be entertained and get to the line first. I refute that she won't because she will have to be brought to the hospital so she will be dead last. Hehehehe. Anyway, we waited again for another hour before we were actually served. We were so hungry and I felt so irritated already. To no surprise, when it was our turn to be checked, we were hit. Darn! It's this DOST scholarship again. Anyway I had my clearance from DOST already so it should not be a problem as well as Olga. Olga and I decided to just not take our lunch and continue to have our faces digitally captured. The queue there was fast and thank God it took us like 5 minutes to wait. So we proceeded to the next step where they had to get our finger prints like all of our fingers. What about if you have like eleven or twelve fingers? How would they do that? Boxes were available for ten so maybe one or two extra fingers will be exceptions. Anyway, the finger printing was also fast as there were lots of officers assigned on that section. After that, we had to submit our forms to be scheduled for the release of our NBI clearance. Olga's schedule was different with mine and so I proposed that she come with me on my schedule and she agreed gladly. I will have a separate blog as to what happened to my second NBI encounter. Well, we decided to just go home and take another Manila tour with MRT.

After what happened, I swore not to set foot on that place but do I have a choice? I need to get there again for the releasing of my clearance. Well NBI Cebu was way better in lots of aspects. So good luck to me for the next trip.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Not that much disaster as the end of the world though and this is how it happened.

Supposedly, we were to have our company team building this Oct 4-5 somewhere in Rizal but then, due to unwanted circumstances, it was postponed. My condo mates who turned out to be my office mates as well, decided to have a drinking session at our place. And, since we still had a bottle of Absolut Kurant Vodka and a fourth of Tequilla, we decided to just get two liters of Sprite and some snack-ous. That was a Friday by the way. We decided to invite some of our officemates and four of them came. Robert voluntered to bring in their sound system. So basically, we were going for a sing-a-along - videoke thing as well.

I went with Robert to get the sound system at his condo at G.A. Towers which is along Boni-EDSA. Everything was set up for the event at around 10PM when we arrived at our place in Pasong Tamo, Makati. The place was already tidied by my mates. So after we watched Survivor Philippines which is aired in GMA-7, the sound system was fixed and ready for the ride. We sang, we danced and laughed the whole night until dawn. I was the host which in our tongue is translated as, "Tangero". At around 4 A.M., almost everyone was already drunk or tipsy. The Tequilla was already emptied and the Vodka was almost dried up but, we decided to just call it done since it's already morning. Well everyone went to get their comfortable places and slept.

10 AM was waking time and my mates were cooking some noodles with egg. Well it was delicious as always. My office mates bid goodbyes and we decided to sleep again. We woke up at around 3Pm and ate then slept, again?

At around 6PM of October 5, I was awaken by a certain knock on our door. I was already half awake by the way so I got up, shirtless and opened the door. I saw one of the janitors and told me that a certain Mrs. Flores was calling us to her office. I knocked the door of the girl's room and told them about it. Well the three of us, Olga, Agnes and I decided to go downstairs to Mrs. Flores' office. Olga was bringing a trash when we went down and so, I was left to face Mrs. Flores alone since Agnes went with Olga to throw the trash can. Mrs. Flores did not bother to introduce herself nor asked who I was. She just asked me if I was an occupant at unit 303. I replied yes to her. Then she went on telling me that, last night, she was not able to sleep. We were disturbing the neighborhood and that many of them did not have their good night sleep. She then told me that what we did was uncalled for and that parties should be allowed up until 12 midnight only and not to pass that time. She repeatedly told me that she was not able to sleep. Oh she was actually giving me sermon in English with her Tagalog accent. Then I said to her, "pasensya na po", which can be translated to "sorry" or "please consider for what happened". Before I could finish what I have to say she interrupted me by saying that she was not able to go to her doctor for her check-up and that we were to blame for it. My blood rushed to my head quickly and as I was trying to control myself, but I couldn't, so I told her that we were not aware that we have disturbed someone or anyone because when we got out of our unit, you will not really hear that there were some singing and laughing. I told her that no one knocked on the door that night telling us that we were too much and that we need to shut ourselves. I then ended my stupid reasoning which by way was really stupid, by telling her sorry for what happened and promised her that it won't happen again. She then replied that damage has been done. So I just shut my stupid mouth. At the back of my head, I was actually talking to her. Things in my head were like: Why did you not take your sleeping pills? Why didn't you knock on our door and told us that we were disturbing your sleep? Can you give me the units who were also disturbed as you have told me because you said, many of you were disturbed, so I can send them my apologies? Worse, in my head I was actually telling her that you can be sick because your office smelled like cigarette smoke and the office is not really an office but it's a dungeon, lots of piled trash on another corner and the dust were all over the place or it can be compared to an attic or a junk yard with less junk. Mrs. Flores just went on telling me things and lecturing me. She was getting personal she told us that our trash should be thrown properly and we should tie the trash bags before we throw it. I replied that we do threw our trash properly and told her that we don't do those things like leaving the bags open. I was already screaming at the back of my mind. I just wanted to get out of her prison cell. Olga and Agnes came just before she could finalize everything she wanted to tell me or us. I asked myself why was she so angered like it's unforgivable and she seemed getting personal already. Well after hearing her sermons, I just went out of her place and told her, "pasensya na po". Of course this time I was not sincere already.

Olga, Agnes and I went to our unit and discussed things. Ronan suggested that we go out and we decided to just go and dine out somewhere. We went to High Street somewhere in Bonifacio Global City. Along the way, we talked about what happened. We were very speculative. The case was, Mrs. Flores confronted Olga and Agnes when they paid our water bills. She told Olga and Agnes that we were allegedly not paying the association dues for our condo. Olga and Agnes explained to Mrs. Flores that we were paying all our bills to Mrs. Gemma Gerios. She then threatened the two girls that she will cut our electric line. That happened like 15 days ago. I was told about it by the girls and I told them that I will speak to Mrs. Gemma Gerios our condo lady - lessor. With my conversation with Mrs. Gerios, I told her that Mrs. Flores confronted the girls about us not paying the condo dues. I told her that we were paying to her the whole condo rent and including the dues as agreed by and in our contract, so I just continued that she has to settle it with Mrs. Flores. I did not tell Gemma of the threats and all the negative remarks made by Mrs. Flores. Of course I knew that there was a bickering already going on in between Mrs. Flores and Mrs. Gerios. That's when I knew why Mrs. Flores was getting personal. Anyway, our talk became another bashing of words against Mrs. Flores. We ended it with another huge laugh. We even tried to suggest to have another really really loud party and invite her.

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